Celebrating 15 Years of Linux Journal

Take a look at the very first issue of LJ at http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue/1

[Shawn Powers was barely out of high school when the first issue of
Linux
Journal went to press 15 years ago, but we figured it would be fun to
send him back in time and write a column for the first issue. Besides,
how else could we claim a tax write-off on a time machine?]

Wow, what a dream. I could have sworn I was a 30-something-year-old
geek with a family and a mortgage. But, here I am in 1994. Oh well, at
least the Linux Journal gig wasn't a dream. What's
Linux Journal, you ask?
That's easy. We're the only magazine dedicated to the Linux and Open
Source community. What's “Open Source”? Well, you'll have to wait a few
years for that one.

Our publisher, Bob Young, brings us a great interview with Linus Torvalds.
As I'm sure you know, Linus has quite a bit to do with the Linux community.
Bob Young also is someone you'll want to keep an eye on—trust me on
this one, and maybe think about investing in red-colored headwear. We've
also got an awesome comparison of the three leading operating systems: Linux,
Windows and OS X—er, I mean OS/2. Sure, IBM is pouring a ton of money into
marketing its operating system, while Linux doesn't have any huge
financial backing, but I think history will prove it takes more than hype
to compete. Looking through the vista of time, Microsoft will have its
fair share of blunders too. Linux is here to stay.

The big news that comes along with this maiden issue of Linux
Journal is
that the Linux kernel itself has matured to 1.0 status. Just because it's
no longer beta doesn't mean you'll have to start paying for it though.
Linux is free. Free in several ways. Check out Arnold Robbin's “What's
GNU?” column for more details.

Are you worried you won't be able to run Linux on your existing
hardware? Well, admittedly, hardware compatibility is a challenge, but if
you're looking to install a basic Linux system, you should expect to have a
computer with at least 2MB of RAM and 15MB of disk space. Also, the fancy
386 processor will give you amazing 32-bit speeds and fully utilize the
power of the Linux kernel. With the 386 math coprocessor and its 32-bit
address space, I can't imagine we'll ever need a faster processor.
::SNORT::

One of the biggest announcements this month is the availability of a new
Linux distribution called Debian. Ian Murdock, the creator and
maintainer of Debian, tells us why his distribution is different and why
the Linux community needs something like it. He has the backing of the
Free Software Foundation and is making the entire operating system
available as a free download to anyone who wants it—awesome stuff that
will almost certainly stand the test of time. Again, trust me.

The one thing I'm sad to report is that in order to try all the awesome
programs available for Linux, you'll either have to
download them very slowly from FTP servers or spend some money buying CDs. Installing
from CDs is much faster though, so it might be worth the investment.
I'd give you the Ubuntu CD I brought with me, but I fear it might
disrupt the space-time continuum. And, I probably would get in trouble for
that.

I'm so excited for everyone stuck back here in 1994. You have years
and years of Linux Journal issues to read. Whatever your current plans are
for the Linux operating system, keep subscribing to Linux
Journal, and
we'll keep you up to date with the latest information, tech tips,
programming practices and industry news for the next 15 years and beyond!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Linus. He hasn't figured out
what sort of mascot to choose for Linux, and I'm a big penguin fan. If I
start trying to convince him now, maybe in a few years, he'll decide my
penguin idea is a good one. Wish me luck!

In 1994, Shawn was attending his first year of college at Michigan
Tech University. He skipped his engineering classes almost every day to
sneak into the computer labs and play with Linux. At the time it seemed a
waste of tuition, but looking back, he wouldn't change a thing.

______________________

Shawn Powers is a Linux Journal Associate Editor. You might find him on IRC, Twitter, or training IT pros at CBT Nuggets.

I think your time machine had some problems... when I started something like 0.99pl13h was current and for a usable X11 system you the minimum recommended hardware 486DX/33 and 8Mb of RAM. At push a 80386 and 80387 (hardware FPU) would be possible. A popular distribution was SLS 1.03.

Linux only supported 80x86 where x>=3 (i.e. 80386 or 80486), so you that exciting 32 bit performance was not optional. I had a "high spec" box (486DX2/50 with 8Mb of RAM) at the time. It ran X11, emacs and gcc without too much pain. The releases of linux 1.0 dates you quite a bit after that and the spec sheet had not been reduced.

At the time I was probably on the way to become a finalist at Oxford University.

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